Hundreds of Land Rover workers face a parking ban from their own factory in Solihull because of the success of the company.

About 400 employees at Lode Lane have been told they must park nearly four miles away at Birmingham Airport because of a massive facelift programme at the site.

The 4x4 manufacturer is laying on shuttle coaches to ferry workers to and from the plant – but the move has angered drivers who previously were able to park at Lode Lane on a daily basis.

One worker, who asked not to be named, said: “They have shut down the North works car park and are trying to force people into parking at the airport.

“It is an extra hour or so on people’s travelling time every day and a lot of the workers affected are not happy at all. Drivers feel their cars were much safer at the factory.”

The parking ban follows the biggest redevelopment of Lode Lane for years, including extended production facilities, warehousing, and offices.

The expansion follows a major sales boom which has seen a string of new models and around 1,800 new jobs created at the factory.

But a year ago a parking ban was introduced for 1,000 staff, including large numbers of white-collar employees, contractors and suppliers. A fleet of coaches was laid on running every ten minutes to and from the site but the move led to complaints from employees.

A JLR spokesman said: “Off-site employee parking at Birmingham Airport was introduced in 2012 to help facilitate the ongoing redevelopment of the site, which forms part of Jaguar Land Rover’s multi-million pound investment in the Solihull plant.

“Coaches to and from the offsite car park operate at regular intervals throughout the day and are aligned with key shift changes.

“The company has recently requested that 400 additional employees and contractors utilise the offsite parking facilities as this work continues.”